21 Chapter 20

With Nezu knowing about the attack in advance(or at least being aware that 'something' might happen), the response of UA's resident heroes and the police was exceptionally swift. Literally dozens of squad cars and a handful of SAT teams arrived within minutes, accompanied by a veritable army of paramedics and other emergency services.

Unfortunately, shortly after All Might leaped into the fray, Aizawa and Thirteen forced Izuku and the rest of Class 1-A to evacuate before the former returned to provide support. As a result, Izuku wasn't present to witness All Might taking on the burgeoning League of Villains. Instead, he was forced to remain a 'safe' distance away, protected by a group of local Pros that included Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, Death Arms, and Thirteen.

"Man, this sucks," remarked Kirishima. "We should be in there lending a hand, not sitting out here like school children!"

Ever the stickler, Ida responded, "While my spirit burns just as intensely as yours, Kirishima-kun, the fact remains that we 'are' still in school! If we attempted to assist at our current level, we would only get in the way."

Unable to refute Ida's words, Kirishima slumped his shoulders, reiterating, "This really sucks..."

"..."

Though he didn't disagree with Kirishima, Izuku couldn't help frowning slightly. He had the advantage of being able to see a person's Level and stats, but even if he didn't, he didn't think it was appropriate for kids to be on a battlefield. Such settings were common in anime, but in reality, it was pretty fucked up.

Noticing the glower on Izuku's face, Ochaco leaned over slightly, hands behind her back as she looked up at him and asked, "Is everything alright, Izuku-kun? You seem really tense."

Adopting a practiced but reassuring smile, Izuku replied, "Thanks for your concern, Ochaco-san, but I'm alright. This incident has shown me that I need to get stronger, that's all."

"Hmmm..."

Though she could tell Izuku wasn't being completely truthful, Ochaco didn't press him to reveal his true feelings. Instead, she caught him a little off guard by facing forward, a resolute light appearing in her eyes as she said, "We'll do it together." in a firm tone.

Turning to look at Ochaco's profile, Izuku was about to say something when the former, seemingly realizing her words could be taken out of context, quickly added, "As a Class! I meant we should work hard to get stronger as a Class...!"

Attracted to Ochaco's outburst and embarrassed flailing, Mina appeared with a teasing smile, asking, "What's going on over here? Are the two of you over here flirting while everyone else is distracted?"

Stamping her foot, Ochaco loudly replied, "It isn't like that, Ashido-san! Izuku-kun and I are just friends...!"

Instead of responding to Ochaco, Mina started at Izuku, narrowing her eyes in amusement as she teased, "You hear that, Izuku-kun? Looks like you've been friend-zoned."

Resisting the urge to grab and pull Mina's flexible horns, Izuku shook his head, an unperturbed smile developing across his face as he said, "That's fine by me. All I've ever really wanted was to be everyone's friend."

Without waiting for Mina's response, Izuku shifted his gaze to Ochaco, winking as he added, "At least for now."

Though she already had a slight blush on her face, accenting the two permanent blush marks adorning her cheeks, Ochaco's face became bright red when she heard Izuku's playful remark. If they weren't in the midst of a crisis, she very well might have used her Zero Gravity Quirk to float away...

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Several hours after the 'USJ Incident' concluded, Izuku, once again, found himself summoned by Principal Nezu. This time, however, the venue was the teacher's lounge. Also, instead of the two of them, All Might and a rather plain-looking man that had introduced himself as Detective Tsukauchi were present.

While Izuku sat next to Nezu on one sofa, All Might and Tsukauchi sat across from them, the latter taking the initiative to say, "I apologize for asking you to be here when you've already given a statement. However, I've learned from Principal Nezu and All Might that you possess a Quirk and information that could prove useful to our investigation."

Immediately following Tsukauchi's words, All Might appended, "Fear not, young Midoriya. Detective Tsukauchi is someone you can trust. He and I go way back, so you need not conceal anything before him."

Nodding his head, Izuku replied, "I understand." in a firm tone. He didn't have a strong impression of Tsukauchi from the anime, but he vaguely remembered him being one of the few entrusted with All Might's 'secret.'

Supply a nod of his own, Tsukauchi said, "I appreciate your willingness to cooperate," before pulling out a palm-sized pocketbook. He had several queries of his own, but he first wanted to get through the questions Nezu had petitioned him to ask, first and foremost being, "Were you aware that a group of villains would attack the Unforeseen Simulation Joint before it occurred?"

Without hesitation, Izuku answered, "Yes. I did not know precisely when they would attack, but I knew it would occur."

Detecting no falsehoods in Izuku's words, a benefit of his Lie Detection Quirk, Tsukauchi gave a curt nod and asked, "Do you possess a 'perk' called Intuition that allows you to sense when an incident may occur...?"

Though he realized what was happening based on Tsukauchi's line of questioning, Izuku didn't panic, answering, "Yes. It's a benefit granted to me when my Luck attribute reaches 100."

Furrowing his brows slightly, Tsukauchi commented, "It would be best if you answered my questions honestly."

Feigning shock, aided by the fact he 'was' surprised, Izuku asked, "What do you mean? Was there something wrong with my response...?"

Adopting a serious expression and tone, Tsukauchi revealed, "My Quirk allows me to tell when someone is lying or being deceitful. When I asked if you possessed a perk called Intuition, my Quirk flagged your response as false or misleading."

"Ah..."

Pretending as though he had just realized the problem, Izuku's expression relaxed as he explained, "I mentioned this to Principal Nezu and All Might previously, but my Quirk allows me to redistribute my attributes. I 'was' in possession of the Intuition perk before this incident. I have since invested in attributes that would help ensure my survival."

Sensing no falsehoods in Izuku's words, the somewhat grim expression on Tsukauchi's face faded, replaced by an awkward smile as he said, "I see." in a curt tone. Then, without missing a beat, he proceeded to ask, "Are you a spy that has been sent to infiltrate the campus and report on its vulnerabilities?"

Adopting a genuinely offended look, Izuku responded, "No. I enrolled in UA to protect people. I would never do anything to jeopardize the safety of my fellow students. At the very least, not intentionally."

Inserting himself into the exchange, as if he wasn't the one who tasked Tsukauichi with uncovering Izuku's intentions, Nezu asserted, "I believe it would be best if we moved on from this particular line of questioning. I do not wish to keep Midoriya-kun here any longer than is necessary."

"Understood..."

Returning the palm-sized pocketbook to the interior breast pocket of his trenchcoat, Tsukauchi asked the question Izuku had been anticipating for quite some time, specifically, "Were you able to ascertain the identities and Quirks of the Villains who attacked USJ? We hope to create a profile on them before conducting the official interrogation."

Regaining his smile, Izuku pulled out a pocketbook of his own, handing it over as he explained, "I didn't have time to inspect each of them, but it was fairly obvious who the ringleaders were, allowing me to memorize their statuses and subsequently record them. What struck me as particularly odd was that each and every one of them possessed multiple Quirks."

Hearing Izuku's explanation, the expressions and bodies of Tsukauichi, All Might, and Nezu tensed. It didn't help that one of the names recorded in was someone Nezu recognized. He had memorized the names and faces of virtually every student that attended UA. Especially those that had lost their lives before having a chance to graduate...

"Shirakumo-kun..."

Similar to Nezu, All Might and Tsukauichi also recognized one of the names recorded in the pocketbook. However, as there were multiple families with the name 'Shimura,' they didn't immediately assume there was a connection between 'Tenko Shimura' and the Shimuras they were thinking of. More accurately, they 'refused' to believe it.

Catching Izuku a little off guard, All Might, wearing an uncharacteristically grim expression, said, "We thank you for your assistance, but I believe it's time you made your way home, young Midoriya. But don't worry. I promise to offer you an explanation in the future..."

Nodding in approval, Nezu calmly appended, "I believe that may be for the best. Thank you for your time, Midoriya-kun. And, please, take care on your way home."

Though he didn't expect to be released so suddenly, Izuku didn't hesitate to rise to his feet, offering a respectful bow to the grim trio as he said, "I'll be leaving first..." before rising to his full height and promptly departing...

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With the school contacting each of their parents to apprise them of the situation, Izuku's return home was met by his mother's tearful embrace. He did his best to assure her that everything was okay, but it wasn't until three hours later that he was able to escape her coddling. By then, he had 999+ text notifications, the result of Mina inviting everyone in the Class to a group chat.

Instead of reading through the past messages, Izuku typed a simple, 'Just got home. How is everyone doing?' with a concerned emoji. The moment he did so, dozens of responses began to fill the chat, followed by several people messaging him directly.

After reading just a few of the responses, a wry smile adorned Izuku's face as he typed, 'It's good to see that everyone is in high spirits. And thanks for your concern, but I'm fine. I'm probably about to hit the hay, though. Feels like it's been a long day.'

Though most people took the hint, wishing him a good night, Izuku's DMs were still blowing up with messages from Ochaco, Tsuyu, and Mina. They had been present when he was 'escorted' away by Detective Tsugauchi's subordinates, so they were understandably concerned.

As it was fairly 'refreshing' to be popular, Izuku didn't mind staying up to alleviate the girls' concerns. He approximated his chances with Mirko to be less than ten percent, but that was predicated on her permitting him to apply for an internship. If she didn't watch the UA Sports Festival or didn't care about accepting an intern, his chances effectively decreased to zero. In that case, he would have very little choice but to turn to the girls in his Class if he wanted to enter a relationship...

Recalling Ochaco's inadvertent remark about growing stronger together, a faint smile developed across Izuku's face. He wasn't ashamed to admit that, in the past, Ochaco was the girl he was least interested in getting to know. His personal ranking placed Hagakure at the top, followed by Jiro, Yaoyorozu, Mina, Tsuyu, and then Ochaco. Not because she wasn't cute, but because she was the most 'vanilla' among the girls.

Now that he was gradually getting to know Ochaco better, Izuku couldn't deny she was growing on him. She was an incredibly kind and caring girl, and the tiny pads on her fingers were as cute as they were soft. She also had an incredible figure, so Izuku didn't think he would lose out by dating her. Rather, with her Zero Gravity Quirk, they would probably have a blast 'experimenting' with its uses...

With such thoughts in mind, Izuku stayed on his phone until around 10 PM. Then, after wishing the girls good night, he dragged his feet over to his computer, exhaling a weary sigh before grabbing the nearby box of tissues.

Teenage hormones were a pain in the ass. Hopefully, it wouldn't be much longer until he had someone to deal with his urges for him...

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(A/N: O_O...)